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I'm about to embark on a shelving unit build for my TuffShed and will be using 1" square tubing 11ga thickness material so I searched YouTube looking for some vids.  I came across this.  I'm just curious what you think about his technique, and more importantly about where he welds the area around the curved section of the tubing.  Any input is welcomed, especially where it pertains to making sure my shelving unit is strong enough to last.Thanks in advance for your help and input.EDIT:  As for rods, I was thinking 1/8" 6013.  Suggestions on amperage settings based on 11g a material?  Thanks again.Last edited by SpEd; 03-10-2015 at 11:11 AM.Miller Diversion 165 TIGMillermatic 211/141 with Auto-SetHobart Stickmate LX235 AC/DC StickNorthern Tool 135 MIG & Dry Cut SawKlutch ST80i/ST200i Stick/TigGrizzly G9742 BandsawMilwaukee Circular Steel Saw/Portaband/SWAG Offroad Table
Reply:Is it going to hold? Probably. Is this the series of videos or youtube-reference I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn how to weld? Definitely not.Regarding your choice of material and rod... I would say that you would be better off with a smaller diameter rod. 11 gauge is like 3mm... and 1/8th is closer to 3,25mm. I can surely be done, but I think it will be easier to do with 2,5mm rods. They will require less amps and reduce your chances of blowing through.Also, I bet most of the guys here will strongly recommend you to ditch 6013 and go with 7018 or 6010 if your machine can handle it.The strength of whatever you end up putting together will be more related to the design itself than the choice of material. What do you have in mind?Best of luck!
Reply:Thanks for your input Mikel_24.  It is very much appreciated.   Very much the noob here so pardon the noob questions.I stumbled across that this morning.  My question really concerns itself with the technique he used, about spending more time along the bottom. or curved portion of the two pieces.  I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a link to something that will show me a different, or better way.  I'm here to learn from you guys.It will be light duty overall but I also want to store a small amount of steel if need be.  It'll be primarily used to store oil, maybe 5 or 10 quarts for personal use, some paint cans and chain lube, a few power tools like grinders and circular saws, some miscellaneous bike things like bags and seats, and some of my more bulky stuff like a small HF drill press, my port band saw and table.  Things of this nature.  I want to weld it so I can store my welding carts and small compressor underneath the storage.  It won't need to support very heavy things.  Everything on a 90* angle as far as the design.  It'll be built in two 6'x18" sets, secured to each other and to the walls of my shed for stability.  I'm also considering a runner along the bottom coming out to compensate for any tendency to forward lean that may happen.  I want it to be solid, but in the past I've over engineered my projects.  Also could you be more specific about the rod size?  Should I switch to a 1/16" rod?  I hope all that make some sense to you guys.  Again, all input is welcomed and appreciated.Last edited by SpEd; 03-10-2015 at 12:55 PM.Miller Diversion 165 TIGMillermatic 211/141 with Auto-SetHobart Stickmate LX235 AC/DC StickNorthern Tool 135 MIG & Dry Cut SawKlutch ST80i/ST200i Stick/TigGrizzly G9742 BandsawMilwaukee Circular Steel Saw/Portaband/SWAG Offroad Table
Reply:I built my truck rack with 1.25 11 gauge tubing and used 3/32 6011 @ about 115 amps if that helps any. Didn't get any burn through, and none of the welds have broken. Built in 2001, it's carried quite a few loads of over 1000 Lbs.
Reply:I saw that vid a while back. I thought to myself, decent video but he could have built a stronger rack unit with .065 wall with a better design and a few braces/gussets thrown in for support. As a side note, if your design allows...where applicable, I like to use a tube that is 1/4" smaller diam for cross bracing. More fillets!
Reply:Originally Posted by BistineauI built my truck rack with 1.25 11 gauge tubing and used 3/32 6011 @ about 115 amps if that helps any. Didn't get any burn through, and none of the welds have broken. Built in 2001, it's carried quite a few loads of over 1000 Lbs.
Reply:The suggestion to spend more time on the curved corner of the tube is so that you don't blow out the end of the butted tube, and is a valid suggestion. This is even more of a concern when you're working with thinner wall tubing. However, since the corner radius of smaller/thinner tubing is smaller, there will also be less of a groove to fill in. The best thing to do would just be to practice a few times.If I were making a shelf, I probably wouldn't use 1x1x11ga tubing, either. Especially for lighter loads like you say it will see, 16ga or just angle would be fine. Though, to be honest, if i needed a standard 18" depth shelf, I'd just go buy one. I have a handful of 5/6-shelf 1000lb units spread throughout my house and I paid around $70/each for them. Even if you used 1x1x1/8" angle, for a 6'x4'x18" unit with 4 shelves you're going to need 68' of material, which around here would be about $50. Using 1x1x11ga tubing would cost more than double that, and that's still not including the material to make the actual shelves or any rod or consumables or paint. The big thing for me though would be the ability to adjust shelf height. I guarantee that if you make a shelf with fixed-spacing on your shelves, it won't take long before you wish one was higher or lower. Unless you need more strength or something custom, you can't beat the price of Chinese made shelves.Oh yeah, another benefit of the wire type store bought shelves is that you can connect multiple sections together by sharing middle vertical supports, so if you're connecting a few together you can actually end up with more shelf space for the money. For example, let's say that you need a 12' wide section of shelf and want 4 shelves on it. To do this you can buy just TWO shelving units that come with 6 shelves each -- giving you the 8 vertical posts and 12 shelves that you need to combine it as three 4' sections with 4 shelves each. Total investment would be about $150 and that's complete, painted, reasonably strong, easily configurable, and takes about 15 minutes to assemble once UPS drops them off at your door.
Reply:Originally Posted by AKweldshop3/32" 6011 at 115amps!!!!!????That has gotta be a mistype!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Originally Posted by SpEdToo high or too low.  Curious...
Reply:Build or Buy decisions are not always about price, sometimes (frequently) pride gets involved and price goes out the window.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:Originally Posted by SpEdToo high or too low.  Curious...
Reply:Originally Posted by nadogailBuild or Buy decisions are not always about price, sometimes (frequently) pride gets involved and price goes out the window.